To Love-Ru: The Stories of our Lives
by drastorm3r
Summary: Not all stories are tall tales, but made up of many chapters. Some are overlooked, while others go unsaid, so this is where they are collected. A collection of potential stories and one-shots that I'll post here in between chapters of my current stories. Some will be connected, others AU's, so expect anything to go! Next up is: The Wolf Boy, Part One.
1. The Summer of Change, pt1

**To-Love Ru: Troubling Times**

 _ **Episode 0.1 ~ Tough Love ~**_

 **A/N: This one-shot is set some time after the main ending of Darkness, but before my story To-Love Ru: I Struggle. Lala learns that Momo has crossed the line with Rito one too many times, and finally snaps at her youngest sister.**

 **Edit: It is also recommended you read Chapters 9,12, 16, 19-21, 25, and 28 of 'To Love-Ru: I Struggle' for deeper backstory, and chapter 2 for how this connects to the main story.**

 **Also, I do not own To-Love Ru.**

 _~ 1. Spring of your Discontent ~_

 _Yuuki Household_  
 _Deviluke Sister's Residence_

Lala Satalin Deviluke had seen what Rito could become, she saw what he could do. He could turn instruments of peace into weapons of war, he could turn the warmest hearts cold. With a simple twist of fate, Rito could become the cruelest tyrant ever, just as much as he could be the kindest King of Deviluke, the savior of Earth. And it had all started with her.

She had returned from a horrid future with foreknowledge that Rito would gain incredible power of, and lose his sanity to, the same demon that had hunted down her ancestors for their blood, and made the Charmian race all but extinct, with her mother as the last pureblooded member of said race. Drinking that in after returning to her fragile present, no one would blame her as she isolated herself from her sisters and love of her life until it all sunk in. Lala was now curled up in the corners of her old lab, hugging her knees to her chest as she was overrun with another panic attack, remembering the stinging orichalcum tail aiming for her heart like an arrow. Seeing Peke alive and well did nothing to comfort her now, knowing full well that unless drastic measures were taken, proving the future was not immutable , she herself was destined to die after gaining Rito's love, sending him into a spiraling depression and causing the slippage of his sanity. She had thought by creating some machine, some trinket or tool to help her ease her nerves and get her mind off of the future to focus on the present, that she could do something that could help Rito from breaking down so easily if it came to be that the future could not change.

Sighing as she looked at the disassembled Animal Change-Kun, which had been a mess to try and fix even after drying out the delicate interior and washing off sticky watermelon juices, she didn't even know if this invention was salvageable, much like her deteriorating relationship with Rito. Looking up at her discarded All-Mighty Tool laying on the floor while she was surrounded by scraps and bits of half finished technological doodads that did nothing to ease her worry, she realized that sitting and mopping on the floor did nothing to help her situation. Getting up and looking over to her basket of precious treasures, where the scary-cute purple rabbit sat among the items she collected that represented precious memories of her family and friends, she realized that even if he did not realize it, they both were meant for each other. And then Lala remembered that Rito's heart currently belonged to another. If she could even change one simple detail, like getting Haruna and Rito together, then she could prove the future was malleable, meaning that she could still have a happy future with Rito despite what she now knew. Rito was troubled by feeling like he was splitting his love between Haruna and Lala, if she could get him to accept the Harem Plan, then that meant that Rito could also have someone else to trust in, to love, even if she was the one fated to die. Smiling, and formulating a new plan, she grabbed her almighty tool from the floor and placed it on the nearby bench. She had to go see Rito, she had to tell him what she knew, so he could accept it and face the future together with her.

Leaving her room and passing by her sister's rooms, she found Nana studying and doing her earth homework, while Momo's room was curiously empty. Thinking nothing of it, and expecting her sister to be playing with Celine while Mikan was bathing, she teleported out of their shared rooms and back into the Yuuki house proper. Momentarily taken back by the setting sun, Lala checked the time of the clock on the wall, which confirmed is was quite later than she had anticipated, yet she knew she still had to talk to Rito. Smiling as she trotted over to Rito's door, she found it slightly ajar and she could hear voices from inside the room. "No, Momo, I won't hear it anymore!" Lala hears Rito argue from inside, much to her surprise, "Haruna and I have promised each other we'd try and date when she gets back from staying with her parents over the summer, this thing you have with me, trying to make everyone happy, I can't betray your sister's confidence in me by not choosing someone..." She widens her eyes as she realizes that she is hearing Rito argue over loving Haruna, or loving herself. Lala doesn't hear anything else, at first, but then she hears Momo reply back.

"Rito... I know you think Haruna loves you, I know you feel you love her too, but can't you see..." Lala was surprised that Momo was defending her so, and she felt a swell of pride that her sister wished to defend her so, "...I love you too?" Those four words cause Lala to slump to the floor in surprise as she feels her knees weaken and give way.

'My _sister, sweet, caring Momo, in love with Rito?_ ' Lala thought to herself, ' _Why does this... why does this cause my heart to hurt knowing this, more so than learning Haruna loved Rito?_ ' She sits there, feeling a wetness on her cheeks caused by a feeling that she has no name for, as this realization hits her. Lala moves to peek through the doorway, where she sees her sister's back through a semi-translucent nightgown, no bra but black silk panties and her tail curling around her body in a suggestive manner that seems to cover her breasts from the front. Suddenly filled with a burning sensation in her stomach, as if wanting to throw up, she grips her hands in an aggravated manner and goes to stand up in front of the door. Not even giving a moment's hesitation, she knocks on the door as softly as forcefully as she can without forcing the door open in her seething rage, which she masks with practiced self-control. "Momo!" she chimes cheerfully as she can muster, "Oh there you are, I thought it was odd that I couldn't find you in your room at this late an hour!" The youngest Deviluke sister freezes, before crossing her arms with a blush and turning back to face her sister in surprise.

"L- _Lala_ , I- I didn't expect you to be up so late, you usually don't leave your workshop until late in the evening," she stutters out in surprise, causing a satisfactory grin to come upon Lala's face as she reveled selfishly in the discomfort, "Usually y-you don't come to Rito's room until he... um, I mean, I- I think I forgot Nana wanted help with her earth homework!" Rushing past her sister out of embarrassment, Lala smirks as she watches her sister retreat to their apartment in the attic. Lala then turns back to Rito with a look of concern on her face, as Rito matches her look with one of blushing surprise.

"Rito, has- has Momo been bugging you too much?" Lala ask tepidly, searching his face for the slightest reaction, "Ha- have I been... bugging you too much, climbing into bed with you, so late at night?" Rito is blushing furiously at Lala's questions, covering his face as he squeaks out a reply.

"N- _no_ , no, I mean y-yes to M-Momo, but n-not y-you," he says looking out between his fingers, "But t-thank you for showing up, Momo was starting to... well, thank you Lala, I appreciate you stepping in." The sincerity of his words made Lala smile, and she forgot the anger she had directed towards her sister like that, cooled in a flash by Rito's shy demeanor. If he had seen what she had glimpsed from her sisters provocative sleepwear, it was no wonder he couldn't look at her straight without remembering every time he's ever seen her in all her naked glory. Giggling, Lala waves goodbye and closes Rito's door forcefully, before taking two steps and collapsing against the wall in a heap of fresh tears.

She had seen her sister try and seduce her fiance, she had heard him reject Momo, reject the Harem Plan in favor of dating Haruna, and it killed her just trying to pretend she was alright with it. Her heart had all but shattered at putting Haruna before her in his love life, which she could have managed if Rito didn't also reject the Harem Plan and all hope he truly wanted to try out polygamy between herself and Haruna; keywords, could've managed. Now she was crying in the middle of the hallway, hoping she was far enough from Rito's room that he wouldn't come searching for her, and pleading that neither Nana or Momo returned through the transporter to see her like this. Instead she found herself covered with a blanket, looking up in confusion as she sees a sympathetic Mikan staring down at her, before she got on her knees to hug the elder girl.

"My brother's stupid, but he'll come around Lala," she murmurs into the fuzzy wall of warmth that began to stop up the dam of emotions threatening to burst, "Momo is baka, my brother is baka, but you aren't, so don't forget that." Lala figures that Mikan must have been on the stairway as Lala was peeping on Momo and Rito, and had likely heard the same conversation she had from the closed door. She knew that Lala had been hiding her emotions towards Rito heavily since she got back, it was probably very easy for her to read the Princess' body language as being tense after having spent enough time with her as a guest, no as an intruder, in their house. In truth Mikan had always been wary of Momo's intentions, if she was being honest with herself she had read them easily as well, but had chosen to ignore them thinking it was merely a phase, or exaggerated to a degree. "Come on, let's go to my room," Mikan states, helping Mikan up and dragging her slowly behind her as she brings her into her room, where Celine is already asleep, "You can crash here for the night, Momo wouldn't even dare come back out after that embarrassing talk with her, so you feel free to stay as long as you want until the morning." Unlike Rito's room, which Lala had tread and tread often to get to her original room, Mikan's own room had been sacred ground, a place not tread by the three sister's, each knowing a girls room was important to her and a safe place away from the world.

Smiling as she lay down next to Mikan, she felt the warmth of the soft bed beneath her, as the two squeezed into the same bed together, just barely. It was safe, it was secure, and it was familiar, something Lala had begun to doubt that Rito felt about his own room. As she began to let her tired mind drift, she could already see plans for her next invention, her newest innovation unfolding before her like they were already written out. Something new, something safe, something familiar. And if she got working on it, and utilized Nana's help with programming virtual reality, she could have it done as a surprise for Rito that coincided with the earth holiday known as christmas. He wouldn't even know the real reason she would build it for him, nor would she hope he ever figure out, truthfully, because then that would defeat the purpose of it being a place of safety away from the chaos of the outside world. Rito's own virtual home away from home.

 _~ 2. Summer of Change ~_

It took some work, most of her monthly allowance during those intervening weeks, and tiptoeing around Momo with Nana helping her out as a distraction. Now Lala was smiling as she looked at her finished invention, which to the unaware observer looked, felt, and behaved like a wall mounted mirror. Testing it out one last time, to ensure it worked properly and contained everything she and Nana had programmed into it, Lala places her hands against the reflective surface and waits. The blue, glowing hand print that is left over as she pulls her hand from the mirror, fades away to be replaced with the portal into the virtual space she and Nana had crafted without Rito, Momo, or anyone else being the wiser. That was no small feat considering her lab was open to both of her sisters, and Rito was known to seek her out occasionally when something of hers goes wrong around Sainan. Creating a virtual version of Rito's house was difficult without raising Mikan's suspicion, and getting Nana's help to ensure a living ecosystem would be sustainable within the pocket of folded space was difficult. Thankfully Rito had decided to go off with Zastin to train for the summer, much to the surprise of everyone, and the frustration of Momo, which made it even more impossible to work on her secret project without Momo stumbling upon it and making a complaint.

Lala hadn't realized how much Rito took up the time in all of their lives, his romantic antics were the center of Momo's attention, while Lala indirectly felt herself pulled along in Rito's social gravity well, splitting her time between her inventions, and Rito, whether at school or the Yuuki house, and while Nana isolated herself, she found herself drawn into his antics in one way or another. Now that Rito was away for the summer, they still had fun around Sainan, but the three sisters seemed to be hanging around the Yuuki household more often than not, since everyone else had plans over the summer with friends or their families, something neither of the three sisters had without Rito. Thankfully Mikan had been spending most of her summer between breakfast and lunch hanging out with her friends this summer, bringing Celine along when appropriate, but mostly leaving her behind for Nana and Momo to alternate days watching her when she wasn't there, so there was some distraction from tedious boredom. That didn't mean watching a two year old Plantasian was any less difficult than it sounded, when only one of the sisters could automatically understand Celine's every word. It took Nana constantly harping on Momo to help Celine learn more than one word, that she had succeeded in getting the youngest to be distracted starting a summer school for the plant child, giving Lala breathing room and help from Nana to finish off the important details while Momo was acting as Celine's teacher.

Once the major modifications and bugs were fixed, Nana had graciously stepped back to provide more distractions for Momo, while Lala tirelessly worked to relieve her boredom by finishing the project and implementing the virtual/realspace transition. When Lala had finished the skeleton, she worked on the muscle, deciding to create a substance that acted like a mirror until it was activated, revealing an active gateway into the virtual space behind the mirror, so to speak. Unfortunately she had hit a snag in getting the mirror to not open up for just anyone, so she decided to install a genetic decoder, which when programmed with a certain D.N.A sequence, would recognize the user and allow the substance to phase out of sync and open the portal. The problem was getting stuck once inside the virtual reality, a problem which forced her to install an emergency shut-off button from the inside, requiring her to use her own genetic template as the 'master key', though she had hoped Rito would have been the only one, besides Mikan of course, who would have access to this virtual reality. This invention was meant to be a haven for Rito to spend outside of reality, a place he could relax without Momo, Nana, or herself crashing in upon him carelessly; so being the master key was something she felt was an intrusion on Rito's personal space, just because she had the ability to use it.

Lala steps back from the glowing portal, as the mirrored substances returns to cover the portal once more. She looks at her hand, sighing as she goes over to sit on her bed to think. The moral quandary before her was one that she had been bothered with ever since she realized she had to implement it. By having herself as a key, she could open it from the outside if anything within the virtual world failed, and the emergency access was cut off from use, and neither Rito or Mikan were available. Equally if she were to not tell Rito that she was a key, and he were to react poorly, his trust in her would plummet, as it showed that she had the ability to enter and leave his virtual world at whim and without his permission. And yet... Lala had seen how reserved Rito had become in the past couple of months, ever since Sairenji had up and disappeared without a word, breaking Rito's heart and Lala's hopes of ever really winning him over as her fiance in his current moody state. While she knew he was not depressed enough to go that far, nor would Mikan ever let him go that far, having her there for him if Mikan wasn't available and things were dire...

She would keep it to herself, then, and pray she would never have to use it. With a smile and determination renewed, she began to wrap the present for Rito, before sneaking it downstairs latter in the night to put it with the others. Lala would wait for Rito to be hers, forever, if it took it. She knew there wasn't much time left for that to be true...

 _~ 3. Renewal in Winter ~_

Lala slid down against Rito's closed door, not daring to go in as he explored his virtual home after having informing everyone where he was going to be. Momo had given up trying to sneak into his room after finding out the genetic lock couldn't be hacked, so she was off somewhere helping Mikan with Celine down below today. Nana had offered to help Mea with homework that day, before they both went out shopping for new spring clothes, leaving Lala alone with Peke and her laboratory. Giving Peke the day off by switching into her normal clothes after school, the android had freed her schedule to people watch for new clothes herself, leaving Lala alone. Wandering over to Rito's bedroom, with nothing else to do and no inspiration ever since Rito's mood kept its plateau between depressive and moping, Lala found herself wishing to comfort the other boy and help him move on. Sighing as she placed her head in her knees, she stayed like that for a while, before the door opened up behind her, and she tumbled backwards. While not easily embarrassed by nudity, staring up at the deceptively young body underneath the black kimono standing over her, was unexpected to say the least.

"Princess, we need to talk," Nemesis states, as Lala rights herself and stands up to look into the Trans Weapon's face, "I think we both know about who, what, and why." She grabs onto Lala's hand and pulls her into the room, closing the door behind her and pushing the Devilukean princess onto the bed.

"Nemesis, you can't just break into Rito's room, especially when he's not in here," she states, confused that the living weapon was even in Rito's room, "What if he were to come back in here, you being here would violate his trust!" The living weapon raises an eyebrow at that.

"You mean like how you are registered as the master key for Rito's private little other world?" Nemesis retorts, surprising the princess, "Yes, I know you are registered on that little device, I interfaced with the device and saw you were registered in its databanks... even though you told him you had no access to it." She waves it off, as if realizing she was getting off track. No matter, the discussion I wish to have with you is of an entirely different nature, surrounding of course, Rito Yuuki," Nemesis states, "While you are all aware of Rito's current love life, but have any of you considered your individual emotional states as well?" Lala wonders what the girl is talking about, but she keeps listening. "Everyone is being thrown off by Rito's impassive demeanor, Golden Darkness has started to become reserved, Mea has become distracted by Rito's moping, Momo-chi has become discouraged since Rito has begun hiding himself away from the world even while at home, and you, you are the worst of them all!" She steps back, wondering why Nemesis was being so direct in her observations. "You, Lala, have lost you desire to create, your spark of innovation, your luster has dulled, and your joy, your zest for life, has even been dragged down just by being in Rito's presence..." Nemesis steps back and looks to the mirror, its swirling surface showing the portal to the other world within it active.

"I hate stagnation, I was born to sow chaos, create change, bring disaster wherever I walk, yet I cannot even do that because of MY connection to Rito!" Nemesis whirls on Lala, growling slightly as she does so, "Now this is your mess to fix, Lala, because you are merely enabling him to ignore his problems and allowing him to hold on to the dream that Haruna Sairenji is going to walk through those school doors one day with an explanation for everything... and she won't be doing that anytime soon!" Lala raises an eyebrow at that.

"What do you mean I'm enabling Rito?" she ask quizzically, "He's enjoying himself without all of us in his life!" She starts to get angry now, at this patronizing weapon throwing accusations out. "Rito had peace and quiet in his life before we came, he had people he loved, friends who cared for him, and we have brought him nothing but more problems to deal with; some you have personally caused might I add," Lala states, raising her voice as she stands off of the bed, "You caused Yami to become Darkness, you, my sisters, everyone has been forcing Rito to confront his feelings, with me, with Haruna, with Momo..." She stares down at the defiant weapon as she rants. "What good is it for me to do anything to help him, when he can't hang up his feelings for Haruna, he doesn't have closure!" she yells, "Don't you think its killing me, just waiting here for him to wake up one day and realize he loves me; I can't do anything now, with Haruna gone and Rito in denial of himself!" Lala whirls and impacts her fist into the wall, leaving a dent in the wall of Rito's bedroom. Growling as she realizes that she had just caused more problems, she angrily turns back to the living weapon. "He's ignoring his need to express himself, whether it be sexual, desire, or whatever, he can't see the pressure building in his wake, just waiting to spill out into the real world," she yells at Nemesis, "You think his aura is just bringing everyone down, it's causing stress to build up between him and everyone, and one day it will go off on one of us and cause irreparable damage to the point he may cut off all ties with everyone!" She collapses and begins crying into her hands, and Nemesis realizes that something more is behind this sudden change in Lala's demeanor.

"What do you mean?" Nemesis asks, stepping closer with a curious gaze locked onto the pink haired princess, "Do you... do you know of something happening that I am not aware of, Princess?" Not getting any answer from the crying princess who is too preoccupied in her self-pity, that she doesn't even notice Nemesis sit down awkwardly next to her. "Th-there, there..." Nemesis awkwardly pasts the crying princess back with clear discomfort on her face, not being very empathetic, but trying if only to get answers, "I'm sure we can divert the pent-up stress building up in Rito... perhaps by forcing him to face reality?" Lala slows down in her tears, turning to peek up from her arms to stare at Nemesis. "It is true that Rito has been ignoring the facts that Haruna Sairenji seems to have disappeared without a trace, but I cannot believe that he is so far lost that we cannot avert whatever disaster it is you think will occur," Nemesis states, placing her arms on her own lap and staring at the mirror located on the closed door across from the bed, "It is true Rito has locked himself away, but you still care for him, his sister and your friends care for Rito, would it not be too hard to believe that they would do whatever it takes to help Rito?" The Devilukean princess wipes the tears from her face, before sniffling and focusing on the mirror as well.

"No- they can't know, Rito cannot know what I know, and neither can you, or else the future will spiral out of control," Lala states quietly at first, before gaining confidence, "I must help Rito realize that there are more women in his life than just Sairenji, if we must force him to face those women, than so be it regardless of the consequences!" At that note, Nemesis grew a wicked smile on her face, inspired by Lala's phrasing.

"Well then, Princess," Nemesis states innocently as she turns to meet her gaze, "How about forcing him to choose?" She steps of the bed with glee, her hands crossed behind her back as she leans forward to grin at the seated princess. "So Rito Yuuki doesn't want a Harem, force him to choose a girl, any girl..." she states, twirling around to stand closer to the mirror, "Like you?" Lala's heart skips a beat as she realizes that she would not have it any other way. Though Haruna held his heart now, while Momo pined fruitlessly away for his over, Yami held him in her heart like he was her one and only target, it was she who had truly come to love him first, regardless of knowing him or not. "So, I'll take it by your silence Princess that you agree?" she doesn't wait to hear and answer as she turns around to focus on Lala, "Very well Princess, let us begin our Harem deconstruction, beginning with a most willing proponent that could still sway Rito towards this goal: Kenichi Saruyama!"


	2. The Summer of Change, pt2

**Troubling Times 0.2**

 ** _~ The Beginning of a Memorable Summer ~_**

 **A/N: This particular story is set in the summer, before the main story of 'I Struggle'**

 **Additional warning: Mentions of sexual situations inside, all of which I do not condone.**

 _1\. ~ The Ever Faithful Servant ~_

 _Yuuki Household_  
 _Lala's Workshop_

Opening mechanical eyes to the sound of her mistress taking a shower, Peke deactivated sleep mode automatically, after her internal systems recognized her state as fully charged. Yawning despite not feeling tired, the little robot begins to float out of the bed her mistress had made for her, intent on getting something done before Lala appeared and required her to maintain her dress form for the duration of the day. Honestly, Peke felt that her mistress had veered away from relying on her forms, opting for physical clothing, in favor of her own creation. It had actually made her creation feel left behind, even a bit neglected, but at the same time Peke had realized that it should her maturing into a young adult, wanting to do things herself instead of taking the easiest route to the solution. That had made her feel pride in her creator, knowing that she was bettering herself, despite the fact Rito was planning to leave for the summer to become a student of Zastin over the summer, going off somewhere where they would train their bodes further, with Zastin hoping to make Rito a proficient swordsman by summers end. Peke was happy the boy was bettering himself, training would help him gain discipline and self-control, both of mind and body, showing his maturity and growth as well. If all went well, Peke calculated that sometime in the following school year, her mistress and the Earth boy would become 'exclusive', to coin an earth phrase from one of the many magazines she had borrowed from Mikan's stack of pre-teen gossip columns.

Peke frowned as she straightened up some more pieces of Lala's equipment, putting tools up and scrap aside to clean the clutter in the lab away. Despite being the princess of a galaxy spanning empire, one of the top five most attractive people in the universe, behind her own mother of course, being a technological genius, and least-spoilt child of royalty, the human known as Rito Yuuki could be as incredibly dense as osmium for not picking a clear winner right away. Haruna Sairenji held sentimental value in the earth boy's heart, sure, but she was average, plain, shy around her friends, yet paradoxically outgoing academically, and she was a mere human of very ordinary background; stable, yes, returns his feelings to a degree, yes, but a princess, or the daughter of the man who single handedly ended a galactic war that had raged on long before this planet had formed any semblance of civilization... Ok, perhaps she was letting the bias that Lala was her creator leak into her opinions, but the only major difference that put Haruna aside Lala in the running for Rito's heart was very simple: she was Human, she lacked a tail, and she was most importantly, not an alien. While Peke could understand that Rito's expectations of the universe at large had been blown out of proportion the same night Lala and herself had crashed into his life, she could also say that perhaps the only thing that fully held him back from loving Lala, was that she was different from him. From her own memory files, the entire galactic historical archives downloaded into her head, differences, whether cultural, racial, or religious, had sparked wars of hatred, incited violence, and even bigotry, against those who were considered different.

She was not able to judge, nor would she feel right doing so, the boy who had proven time and again despite those differences he still valued Lala, valued the alien worlds, people, and experiences opened to him, it was just a conclusion she could make with her own eyes from watching these past few years. That was not to say that Rito did not have obstacles, difficult situations forced upon him, impossible decisions offered him, which equally stemmed from three sources she had identified as troublesome in this order: Momo, Nemesis, and Run. While Run merely wished to get in the way of Lala's love life, and her motives were selfish and petty at best, Nemesis had proven herself a threat while forcing the situation surrounding the 'Darkness' persona within Yami rising to destroy the Earth. No, she was merely an agent of change with chaotic interests, whereas it was the final and most important threat to Lala's love life, coming from within her own family, that Peke had had more than one discussion with Mikan Yuuki about. Momo,as dear and close a she was to her older sister, was proving to be a meddlesome burr in her gears, something she had become aware of when Rito had digitized himself within her own body after interacting with one of Lala's devices. She hadn't known what had happened then, of course, but one day clean out the deepest reaches of her memory core, she had stumbled across a file left behind by Rito on accident, in fact an intently detailed copy of his memories and subconscious thought he had left behind like an imprint within her digital brain, unwittingly. Peke had become aware of Momo's lecherous seduction of Rito, how it had started off as innocent teasing, escalating more and more as she sunk her claws deeper into Rito's innocence, attempting to corrupt him for herself.

Thinking right there and then that she should confront her mistress' sister, Peke had thought nothing of it as Momo's own interactions with Rito had become less and less, ever since Lala had returned from the past and attempted to spend as much time with Rito as physically possible. Instead Peke had approached Mikan, discreetly and in the middle of the night, with her worries about Rito, revealing nothing serious, but confirming to herself that Mikan too had long suspected the youngest Devilukean sister's 'accidents', of being a farce. So Peke and Mikan had begun to thwart Momo at every turn they could, keeping an eye both on her and Rito when possible, and interceding when either deemed it necessary. While her mistress had never programmed her to be sneaky, to lie as she was doing or withhold information such as this, she had grown beyond her programming, attempting to keep her mistress happy despite the underlying issue not really being addressed. It was the best Peke could do without emotionally scarring the trust, and perhaps even breaking the bond between, of the two sisters. Keeping her mistress clothed, happy, and safe, was literally her main programming, if it meant keeping up a lie, a pretense, so be it. Peke would die for her mistress, if the situation arose, if it meant she would be safe. Why was this situation any different?

Peke is broken out of her thoughts when Lala walks back into her bedroom, towel around her body stripped off as she goes to her closet and begins to retrieve clothing that Mikan had bought for her with Peke's intimate knowledge of her size. "Are you preparing to go out today, Lala-sama?" Peke asks, floating towards her mistress as she pulls on her underwear, before rifling through her drawers, "I thought you would require my services today..." Lala turns back to Peke with a faint smile, before turning back to her closet and pulling out the skirt and shirt she had decided to wear for that day.

"Thank you Peke, but I'm actually planning to join Rito at the Zoo today, since he'll be leaving next week to train with Zastin," she slips on her clothes and rifles through her piles of sidelined inventions, "Mikan wanted to take Celine to the Zoo before Rito left, since they have younger animals in their petting zoo, and everyone else wanted to get together one last time to surprise Rito with a going away party!" The Devilukean princess pulls out the device she ad been looking for, eyes gleaming as she giddily laughs while holding it in her possession. Peke sags a little bit, dipping to the floor as she does so, since it seemed she was going to be left behind to take care of the house. Lala starts to walk out of her lab, before turning around to Peke with a curious glance. "Aren't you coming Peke?" she asks, which causes the little robot to look up, "Don't think just because I'm wearing clothes that we aren't taking you, Mikan suggested that you assume your humanoid form so you can experience everything up close!" Peke's eyes widen in surprise at that, and she wondered exactly why Mikan had suggested it, but the robot perked up as she floated after her mistress.

"Ok, Lala-sama!" she says as she follows her mistress out of the lab, "But why are you bringing that invention?" The little robot sees the smile that graces her lips, before she puts a finger to her lips to shush her. Lala actually takes her purse and slips the invention inside it, casually walking to the transporter.

"It's a secret Peke, I thought I'd surprise everyone with it after we visit the zoo, since we're planning to have a picnic in the park afterward," she replies, while the little robot follows her out into the Yuuki household, "Everyone's going to be so sur~prised!" Peke was silently thinking that, it would not in fact, turn out well.

 _2\. ~ A Lovely Surprise ~_

It was later that afternoon, after visiting the Zoo, that Lala's surprise began to unfold. The girls had 'ooohed' and 'awwwed' at the majestic creatures stuck behind cement fences, clear walls, and objects of attention to the parade of people milling through the zoo to find their favorite animals, like the ever popular lion, the fearsome bears, or the cuddly and cute penguins. Of course it was Nana who had made a fit once or twice, being able to understand the animals of course, yet she hadn't put up as much of a fight as Rito had thought she would. "I understand Zoo's aren't always the best places for animals, they're meant to be in the wild of course, but people actually can learn a lot from good zoo's, because it shows they treat their animals right," Nana had stated in between habitats, before thumbing back at the exhibit they had just passed through, "The elephants could vogue for their caretakers, the hyena's couldn't stop making jokes, and the apes seem to enjoy the attention, they like to show off..." By the time they had gotten to the petting zoo for the kids, everyone was smiling and happy, petting sheep and feeding goats, with Celine enraptured with their fluffy coats. By that time they had seen everything there was to see, and everyone was getting hungry, so they decided to leave the zoo for the park.

Rito had been surprised when he discovered the park had been decorated with balloons and streamers around the tables, which were set up with a buffet's worth of food and drink. Of course Momo had snuck away before they had diverted to the Kid's area, meeting up with Saruyama, Yui, Mikado-Sensei, Yami, Mea, and Nemesis, Risa, and Mio, who had brought along Maron as she was watching the dog for the summer. They had set up the food that Mikan and Momo had prepared the evening before, and both Mea and Yami had helped put up the banner Zastin had made to celebrate Rito's decision to train. It simply read: 'You Can Do It, Rito!'. Rito had been surprised to have met up with all of his friends and colleagues, and was happy to enjoy a good bye lunch with everyone. Even his father, Zastin, Maul, and Smutts had shown up halfway through, having completed the last of the prints for the day so Saibai could see his son one last time before he left for the summer.

"I can't believe my s-s-son is growing into a man!" Rito's papa had cried out, tears of joy pouring out, much to both Rito's and Mikan's blank stares of embarrassment, "R-r-rito!" Leaving the older man to cry away his tears of joy, Rito had turned his attention to his sister and Celine, who sat with the others under the shade of a nearby tree, eating some cool and sticky watermelon that had been bought by Mikan to enjoy in the summer heat. This would be the last time he would se his friends for a while, and his thoughts wandered to Haruna, who had rushed off one day in the beginning of summer. Her sister had taken a job elsewhere for a long stint of time, forcing Haruna to live with her parents in the meantime, leaving Rito behind with hasty promises of trying out a relationship between them in the fall. While Rito had still been indecisive of his feelings, with the recent addition of Momo's confession pulling him four ways now, between Yami, Haruna, and Lala, he was confused and hopelessly lost. By leaving for the summer, training both his mind and body in the meantime, Rito hoped to grow out of his awkwardness, and actually become something more than a perverted klutz that the school, and probably the whole of Sainan, likely knew him as. Maybe by the end of this experience he could finally make his decision, since he would have a clearer head, a trained body, and the tutelage and wisdom of Deviluke's number-one swordsman at his disposal.

For now, he would enjoy this last week of rest before the hectic schedule and rigorous training that Zastin had provided him a sample of, set in. So Rito found himself groaning when he noticed the glean in Lala's eyes as she called out to everyone to come join her in the middle of the clearing they had set up in. "Everyone, come here, I have something cool I thought I would surprise everyone with!" Lala announces, as she brings out her bag and reveals something in her hands, "Since I learned we were going to the Zoo today, and since some of you didn't get to join us in our endeavors today, I thought I'd have fun showing off my newly upgraded..." Rito tensed up when he saw what she was holding in her hands, and he took a step back as memories played through his head of the uncomfortable experience of being two inches tall, if that. "My Animal Change-Kun Mark Two!" she announces, holding a small oblong device with two yellow lights, and two red points at its ends, "Now, not only does it allow the user to pick what they turn into, the device also allows them to change into almost any species in the galaxy!" Rito's eyes widen at that as he goes to object to her bringing that outside.

At the same time Celine had gotten bored while everyone was fawning over the device, that she had found bottle of cola that came with an easy twist top. With determination and an unquenched thirst, the Plantasian girl twisted the cap open with a successful 'POP', and began to bring the soda up to her lips to drink its sweet, carbonated nectar. It was at that point that Lala had handed her invention off for those curious to give it a whirl. "How do you activate it?" Yui asks hesitantly, looking to Lala for guidance, "Could it turn me into a cat-girl, n-not that there's any r-reason, or anything... heh, heh..." Lala brightens at Yui's curiosity, smiling as she points out the various buttons on the device.

"Just press this to select your species, that one to set the time limit, and those to either transform, or reverse the process, and this one to randomize the process," Lala states, as she goes to grab it and show its features off, "For example if you wanted to, say, become a dragon, you'd set this here, that there, and let's give it a time limit of an hour..." She goes to hand it back, but it slips from her grasp and rolls to the ground, between legs, and down a slight incline. "Oops," Lala chuckles as she scratches the back of her head, "My bad, at least Celine is there to stop it?" Rito cast his eyes down towards Celine, who he had lost track off watching over as she seemed to have been otherwise occupied. He saw too late that she had half guzzled down a soda bottle as the device reached her. All that happened next could be described as a bright flash, and in Celine's place, a medium dog-sized, green dragon stood in her place, blinking in surprise as well.

"Lala, what did you do?" Rito asks rhetorically, "What kind of dragon is she?" He watches as Celine blinks up at everyone, ignoring the oblong shape by her small, sharp claws, tail swishing as tiny wings seem to stretch off of the girls back, translucent membranes revealing the skeletal structure composing them. She hiccuped, and a blast of fine, pink powder exploded out of her mouth and landed at there feet, not quite reaching them.

"Well, it looks like she's an Andromedean Lithe Firespray," Nana informs the rest of the group, "Thankfully it seems she can't spew fire, and she's a juvenile by the look of those wings, so we can be sure she's going to stay grounded, but I have no clue what that stuff she sprayed was..." Rito speaks up, horror dawning on his face as he realizes exactly what it was.

"Celine drank cola, right before she got hit by the device," Rito states, as the others raised their eyes to look towards him, "We just turned a drunk Celine, who spews love spores when she's drunk, into a tiny dragon spewing those same spores instead of fire..." Mikan, Momo, Lala, and Yami all open their eyes wide as they know exactly what a drunk Celine means, while the others just look on in confusion. "Just... whatever you all do, don't breath in those spores or you'll go 'love crazy' towards myself," he states, looking over to Nana, "Can you help me distract her, so I can get that device away from her?" Nana nods, as she goes one way to draw Celine's attention away from Rito.

"Celine-chan, can you look this way, good girl!" Nana says, focusing on the young lizard's slit, pink eyes which focused on her as she moved in her field of vision, "Good, good, just ignore everything else and focus on me, okay?" The dragon-Celine chirped happily and moved over closer to Nana, knocking the device up into the air and away from where she stood.

"I got it!" Rito calls out, as he runs to grab the flying device in the air like a football, "Almost..." Jumping three feet in the air to catch it, he trips on a watermelon rind left in the grass where Maron, who was tied to a nearby tree, was sleeping and causing both to fall into the nearby bushes,just as the device fell onto Rito's head. "Ow," he stated in the bushes, just before a bright flash of light went off, obscuring the view of everyone.

"Rito, are you okay?" Lala asks, going to walk over to where Rito had landed, "Did the device change him into something too?" Suddenly the rest of the others hear a bout of coughing from beyond the bushes, as Rito comes walking back out with the device in hand.

"Man, that conked me right on my skull," Rito says, holding the offending object in his hands, looking up to Lala and the others, "It doesn't seem to have done anything to me though..." He walks out of the bushes and back up to rejoin the others, minus Nana and Momo, who had both gone to distract Celine before she could do anything. Joining the closest group consisting of Lala, Peke, Saruyama, and the others around them, he offers the device to Lala. "Sorry about not catching your invention, Lala, it got a little sticky landing in a watermelon rind as I got up, but at least it seemed to have been a dud transformation!" Suddenly a fly decided to land on Rito's nose, to lick off some of the sugary watermelon juice that had splattered onto his face as he squished and fell, causing an irritation to build up on his nose. " _ACHOOO!_ " he sneezes, and in a puff of smoke, Rito is replaced by a familiar stranger to most of the crowd, his clothes no longer form fitting and threatening to burst at the buttons.

"Riko!" Saryuama cries in glee, hearts in his eyes, before reality and reason gives him a look of confusion, "Wait, Rito?" Bright red and covering her bust, which threatened to burst with one wrong move, she stared up beet red at Saruyama, who ogled her while trying to reconcile Rito with Riko. Riko realizes that her pants don't fit quite right either, as they begin to slide down in all the wrong places, which causes Saruyama to give a giddy laugh despite the situation.

"Saruyama, you pervert!" Riko(?) calls out, giving him a slap across the cheek and making him spin around before falling to the ground, as she desperately clings to her ill fitting garments while threatening to burst into tears, "Peke, please help me out here!" Peke, who was a surprised as everyone at the transformation, quickly returns to her button and attaches herself to Riko/Rito, and envelops her in a sparkle of light. Clothes now more fitting, Riko is dressed in Lala's old outfit, tailored to her new body. "Lala, why am I a giiiirrrrrllll?" Riko whines out, her higher voice just showing how obvious the change was, "I thought your invention only turned people into animals?" Lala looks at the device in concern, before reading what it was that had affected Rito, her eyes lighting up in response.

"Heh, oops, I guess I forgot to mention I upgraded it to turn the user into more than just animals," Lala says, as she pats Riko on the shoulder, "It seems to have been set to random when it hit you on the head, and the melon juices seemed to have messed with the timer function a bit, but, uhmm..." She smiles sheepishly at Riko as she closes her eyes with a smile. "It seems that the effects will be permanent, if we can't fix this in two hours," Lala states, causing everyone else to cry out in shock, "But don't worry, Celine's transformation was set to go off in an hour, and I think I have an idea how to fix the machine for one last transformation before it goes kaput..." Suddenly Lala holds out a feather from out of nowhere, tickling Riko's nose with it, before she sneezes in success. In another puff of smoke, Riko is now Rito again, now holding down the skirt out of embarrassment at realizing she was a he again. "Although I think we can guess what species you are now, Rito," Lala states with smile, "It seems you've become like Ren and Run, a Memorzean!" Rito blushes, as Peke transforms the skirt into something much more gender neutral, a pair of knee length shorts, while automatically resizing the material and making it more elastic in case of another sudden transformation.

"The things I do for Lala-sama," Peke states, much to the blushing Rito's embarrassment. Rito then decided to focus on their other problem at hand, leaving the invention in Lala's mostly-capable hands, with Mikado's guidance, and turning to follow where Celine had gone off to with Nana and Momo.

 _3\. ~ A Sticky Situation ~_

Momo and Nana had just managed to corral a dizzyingly happy, bubbly, spore spewing Celine in an area of the park that was fairly isolated from the public, yet close enough for the others to follow after them. Calling out the Shibarisuki plant from Okinawa, Momo had commanded it to fence in dragon-Celine and keep her from going further into the forest, with Nana and Momo keeping her at arms length and out of range of her hiccupping clouds of spores. It was then that Rito and the others followed them into the forest, that Momo and Nana had slipped up and gotten to close to Celine while they were distracted. "Rito, stay back!" Momo commanded, "We have things under~" A hiccup in their direction, and a sudden pink cloud rolled over both Nana and Momo, surprising Rito, Yami, Mea, Zastin, and Saruyama, thankfully with the others having stayed back at their picnic spot to help clean up, or in Nemesis' case, lounge around while reveling in the chaos. Unfortunately they both turned to Rito, hearts in their eyes as they both focused on him intently.

"Ah, crap," Rito states, standing backwards as a giggling Nana, and a sultry, sulking Momo begin to walk towards him, so he turns back tot he others with him, "Hey, uh, I think I have to run, but, uh, please keep Celine contained until her transformation wears off!" Turning on the dime, Rito began to run away, just as Momo called forth some plants to block his path, separating Yami, Mea, and Zastin from himself and Saruyama, and effectively walling himself in with dragon-Celine, a love crazed Momo and Nana, and a fairly unhelpful Saruyama. "Uh, hey guys, I know you won't believe me, but neither of you are in your right mind..." Rito states, backing into a thorny wall, gulping as Nana shoves Saruyama away, and Momo saunters up to a defenseless Rito, "You know this isn't what I want Momo, this is Celine's pollen, you know that... I can't betray..." He's silenced when Momo grabs his neck form behind and forces her lips against his, his mouth slightly parted in a gasp of surprise, then filled with her tongue and saliva in return. Gathering what strength he can, he pushes the youngest Deviluke sister away, before spitting and wiping away at his mouth, a dark look crossing his features, aimed towards Momo.

"Come on, Rito, I know you _love_ it," Momo states as she steps forward and drags her hand down his chest, "Just imagine what I can do, for you..." She leans in to whisper that last part, as her hand reaches further down and brushes his waist band, teasingly trying to slip her fingers into places where they don't belong. Not thinking very clearly as he grabs for her hand, he grasps her forearm while aiming to stop her hand from going any further, just as it was sneaking its way into his pants, as she teased him with her delicate fingers brushing his lower extremities. She gasps in surprise, letting go of him and stumbling down to her knees, while reveling a smirking Nana grasping her sister's tail tightly. Rubbing it with a merciless smile, she seems satisfied that her younger sister is squirming in pleasure under her grasp.

"Oh, sweet sister, did you think I would let you have all the fun with Rito?" she states, not really expecting a response as Momo weakly attempted to resist the pleasure, and break free of her grasp, "You know mother told us to share as children, why should you have those delectable lips to yourself, when he could be kissing me instead of you?" She laughs, confusing Rito for a moment, wondering just what the love sick middle child thought Momo was doing to him, until he realized that despite being influenced to love him, her characteristic innocence regarding sexual matters carried over into this altered state. He felt a little bit of relief, and took his exit as a cat fight grew between both sisters trying to assert dominance over the other.

Sighing as he slipped past them, he noticed Celine agitatedly pacing around, with Saruyama standing nearby, having watched the events between Rito and the girls unfold from the safety of a giant rock that hid him from view. "Dang Rito, you have girls crawling all over you, wanting to perform acts on a disgusting, depraved boy like yourself, when they have a piece of this nearby!" Saruyama whines, much to Rito's annoyance, as he rolls his eyes as his friends attempt to lighten the mood, "Seriously though, I've been watching Celine just pace around the park, she seems to still be billowing that pink smoke stuff, but it seems like its growing farther and farther apart." Rito nods, peeking over the rock to view Celine from its other side, who is trying to claw at a thick wall of vines that Momo had erected in her love induced stupor. She turns her head as Rito scoots up the rock, and he curses as she turns back to sniff the air.

"Crud, I think she saw me," Rito says, sliding back down in a panic, as Saruyama tries to climb up to look, "No, no, don't look, don't look!" He was too late, as he felt something hop up onto the rock, and cast a shadow over them as Celine looked down upon them from her new perch. She trilled, then snuffed, before sneezing and spewing a cloud of pink dust over both Rito and Saruyama. "Ah, cra-" he starts to say, until he feels a pressure build up behind his eyes, " _ACHOOO!_ " As the cloud of spores cleared, Riko was coughing as she stumbled away from the rock, before turning back to see how this was affecting Saruyama. "Saruyama?" she asks cautiously, not seeing him as the pollen cloud still lingers, "Hey, buddy, are you okay~?" She sees that Saruyama isn't moving from his spot, leaning against the rock with his head lolled down, yet sporting the distinct, pink flower that meant he was affected by the pollen. His head perks up as he hears her voice, and Saruyama turns up to look at Riko with a clear expression that was shockingly unnerving to her.

"Riko?" Saruyama says almost quizzically, "Riko, there you are!" She freezes, wondering just exactly his reaction to her will be. Her expectations were shattered with what he said next, though. "Did you see where Rito went?" Kenichi asks, much to the surprise of Riko, whose eyes were wide and slack-jawed, "I know he was just here, on any other day I would all be over you, babe, but Rito just has this magnetism right now; I need to find him!" Riko all but smacked her hand to her face, suppressing a groan while plastering a fake smile on. "Waiiiit..." Saruyama draws out, creasing his brow and putting a hand to his chin, "You didn't..." Riko freezes as she feels nervous sweat in places she didn't want to know a girls body had sweat. "... switch places with him using one of Lala's inventions?" Saruyama continues, snapping his fingers and turning around to face the opposite way, "Man, no wonder you didn't want Momo in your pants, the secret would have been blow right then and there!"

On the one hand, she should be thankful her friend was somehow oblivious to all of this, but on the other hand, dear god was she friends with an idiot to surpass all idiots. Not suppressing the groan this time, she smacks her forehead and throws up her hands in exasperation. "No you idiot, you learned this not five minutes ago," she yells out, accidentally drawing the attention of Celine, Momo, and Nana out of their cat fight, "I am Rito, you moron, you saw me transform into Riko and back, how can you not realize that it was me, Rito!" Riko hadn't heard someone behind him until it was too late, and by then Nana and Momo each had an arm looped around his hands, immobilizing him. "Aw, crud," Riko states, as she watches Saruyama step forward.

"We don't mind this form, do we Nana?" Momo asks, purring into Riko's ears, "A body is a body, it just means more fun to be had with new experiences to enjoy... _*giggle*_ " Riko shudders a bit at that, as Saruyama just stands there, blushing as he just stares at her.

"Rito as a girl?" he says, slightly puzzled, slightly excited, "I- I, wha-" Suddenly the flower on his head falls off, wilting, it falls dead to the floor. Blinking stupidly, he then takes a double take at seeing Nana and Momo both holding Riko in their grasp, each trailing kisses up and down her exposed collarbone and neck. "Hey!" Saruyama states, "Let Rito go!" Riko is surprised that Saruyama suddenly changed his tune, and even fought off the small plants influence, while Momo and Nana just turn their heads at the source of this new annoyance.

"Oh, buzz off you heterosexual nitwit," Momo bites out at him, "You had your chance to take Riko for yourself, yet you blew it, so we get to keep her all to ourselves, isn't that right Nana?" The younger nodded in exchange, before returning to pepper kisses on an uncomfortable Riko's neck. Saruyama grumbles a bit at that, before miming rolling up his sleeves to show he was getting serious.

"Seriously, Momo, I know you're all horny for Rito, like every other girl that has those stupid flowers on their heads, but this is serious," Saruyama states, as he steps forward to Grab Riko by the shoulder, "He may be in a different body, he may even be Riko, but he's my friend, my Bro!" He pulls Riko suddenly away from both Nana and Momo's grip, as she twists her foot wrong and trips into Saruyama's firm grip. "I don't care if that lovey-dovey pollen is making you do this," Saruyama states, "But everyone knows its bro's before h-" His words were lost, as a massive explosion then tears through the wall of vines and treeson the other side, missing them all but revealing the wooded clearing they had hidden away from. Mea disperses her weapon construct, then joins Yami in producing offensive scythes with which to fight back with if it came to it. In the middle of them both was Zastin, flanked by a smiling Lala who waved at all of them from behind her bodyguard.

"Rito!" Lala calls out, "I fixed the device, I made it so it will return you to normal, but it will break down after one charge!" She brandishes the device in her hands, showing the fixed device. It was then that Momo took a half step in front of Riko, before powering up her Dedial.

"Just try it sis, I know I'm enjoying Riko as a Memorzean," she states, looking back at her for a moment, "I will do whatever it takes to keep him this way, so we can have more fun this~" She suddenly stops mid-sentence, as dried up flower petals fall from her head, mirrored by the ones coming off of Nana's head. " _Wha_ ~" Momo states dumbly, looking around and seeing the massive hole in the trees, and a wall of plants she recognizes but doesn't remember putting up, "What the heck happened?" Riko just sighs, and breaks out of Saruyama's grasp, before turning back to see where Celine had gone to. She smiles as she notices a sleeping toddler has replaced a miniscule dragon, passed out either from tiring herself out changing back, or just from boredom, but he was glad they didn't have to worry about a drunk Celine anymore being a major threat.

"Please, let's change me back..." she moans, walking over to Lala, grabbing the device from her hands, "So how does this wor~" In a flash of light she hadn't expected, the machine exploded in her face in a shower of smoke and light. Coughing as he tries to wave the fumes away, the dirty, male Rito Yuuki was happily returned to normal. He sighed, knowing he had the most rotten timing on his side. This was made worse, when out of the blue, his clothes dissolved in a flash and the robotic form of Peke fell into his open hands. Eyes widening at that, he covers himself with the unconscious form of Peke, while blushing like a madman and looking at his laughing friends around him, throwing a dirty look at an unabashed Mea and drooling Momo. "Lala!" he cried weakly, as the Devilukean girl just giggled, taking something and slipping it onto his wrist, "What?" In a sparkle of light both he and she were gone, taking Peke with them while leaving a pile of women's clothing behind, keeping the others wondering where they had disappeared to. It would be hours before an abashed Rito would speak to any of them again, let alone be in the same room as Momo or Saruyama.

OoOoOoOoO

 _4\. ~ Realization... Is it too late? ~_

 _Later_

Smiling to himself as he thought of Lala, admiring that she had done her best to fix the situation after her invention caused him trouble again, he sighed and laid back in his bed. Ever since this afternoon when Lala and him had taken the warp bracelet back to his house, causing an equally embarrassing situation there when they landed on his bed, both of them naked by that point, she had holed herself up in her lab with the excuse that she was going to try and salvage her machine. Rito had tried to clear his head from the excitement of the day, choosing to stay up in his room and out of the way of Momo, Nana, and Saruyama, his sister had gladly brought his dinner up to his room and let him have his privacy. He had wanted to go up to Lala's room and thank her for saving him from more embarrassment than he was due, but he couldn't find the energy to actually go and do it, even less now that Momo and Nana had come home and gone to get ready for bed.

Thinking over the events of the day, of the harrowing experiences with both nana and Momo, how the latter had been that close to... doing things in front of her sister, in front of his friend, in front of Celine! Momo had been becoming a nuisance ever since she had confessed her feelings to him, somewhat fed up with his indecision, it seemed like, and causing more and more convoluted 'accidents' that were obviously intentional, albeit innocent from an outside view. Like the time she had come to walk in on him taking a bath, and trying to give him more than a cleaning, or the time he had walked into her changing in the bathroom, which Mikan had just come out of with no Momo inside of it. He still didn't know how she had managed that one, and he didn't hope to find out again. She had also been trying to slip into his bed more and more, and he was waking up with her in his bed in odd spots, certain body parts in unusual and uncomfortable areas while experiencing morning problems, like she was taunting him to do something to her. He was this close to going all out and telling her off, but he held back because of Haruna's promise to him.

She had promised that when she came back, they could try dating for a bit, then if he found himself unsure, she told him it was fine to try taking Lala out instead. Haruna had been very understanding, regrettably so in Rito's eyes now that he realized she may not have really been okay with it, but he could only wait and see. He was half hoping she was angry with him when she came back, outraged even at suggesting a date with him, and maybe he was hoping that would be the case just a little too much. Whether it was out of guilt, or maybe selfishness, he wished she had broken it off with him before leaving for the summer, just so he could have spent this summer training session with Zastin having a moment's of peace and relief in his thoughts. He truly wanted to give both Haruna and Lala the answers they both craved, he wanted to know himself, but everything had been building up so much these past few months he hadn't had time to be himself between the everyday craziness and the pressure to choose. So that was why he had planned to train with Zastin over the summer, he could get away from Sainan, from his crazy life, from Momo's constant, overt sexual acts, from Lala's crazy inventions, and from being beat up by Nana every time a misunderstanding regarding either of the former came up.

Rito hoped by training himself, under Zastin's guidance, he could stop being the awkward teen that was mistaken for a pervert, and just be Rito Yuuki, the outgoing, friendly, hard working student he had been before all of this craziness had come into his life. If this all kept up, he didn't even know how he would graduate in the upcoming year. He knew that no college or school would accept 'Cataleptic Indecency Syndrome' as a real medical excuse for why he flunked out of school, and why he was viewed by a majority of Sainan as a pervert or a nuisance. He was only thankful most of the events he was subject to were people who he knew, who were understanding that he truly didn't want to be a nuisance, and were mostly still his friends.

Looking out the window at the setting sun, he heard Mikan take Celine down to the bath, before they would get ready to go to bed for the evening. He hadn't realized it had gotten this late, but he took the time to gaze at the pleasant view and enjoy the unnatural calmness he had gotten so little of lately, now that the others had known he would be leaving soon with Zastin. His pleasant moment of silence was interrupted by the phrase he dreaded most, coming from his currently least favorite person in the world. "Rito~" Momo crooned as she opened the door, wearing nothing but a sheer nightgown and some lace underwear, "I know you refused my offer earlier today, but it still stands, that you and I can still do _~naughty~_ things to each other!" She says it jokingly, but he knows she's taking it more seriously than she thinks he knows. He realizes she must have been waiting for Mikan to take Celine down, knowing that Nana must have been tied up with her over the summer homework she had been given, and that Lala was safely locked away within her workshop and not likely to come out anytime soon. It was then that Rito thought back to the promise Haruna had made him, how the happiness of herself and Lala rested on him not falling for her depraved tricks.

"You know what, Momo," Rito started to say while Momo stares at him unabashed in her night wear. He hesitates, gulping as he realizes her nightgown is semi-translucent, that her panties were black and silk lace, showing she was obviously trying to seduce him. Steeling himself and taking a stand for once, finding the courage he didn't know he had, he found his voice once more. "No, you know what Momo, I won't hear it anymore!" For the first time in a long time, Rito knew exactly what to say to her, and he would make his stance clear!

 **A/N: I'm not dead, I swear it! Hit a bit of mental block in my writing, so my sequel has hit a bit of a snag. But keep your eyes open and you might see it pop up.b**


	3. The Wolf Boy, pt1

**A/N: I promise that Chapter 3 of The Fight for Love is coming soon, but in the meantime enjoy this little tidbit introducing a new character. This directly follows the events in the previous chapter...  
**

 ** _3.1 'The Wolf in who cried Human!'_**

Sainan, a big place full of thousands of people, all going about their busy lives like ants in their daily routine. Throw one wrench in the works, like not being in school, or marking your territory so that nosey neighbor dog knows his place. Then you have people going after you like your some delinquent trying to ruin everybody's day just because you dug up one petunia or water lily too many. I've been treated like the worst of the worst of the worst, scum of the earth, no better than cats, or vacuum cleaners. I still have my pride, though, my heritage is noble and pure, and even though I've been dragged down into the muck and the murk (which is something I like to do anyway), I can hold my head up high at the end of the day.

There are a thousands, thousand smells to taste, places to see, and things to do and enjoy in Sainan, a city that almost never sleeps, even after dark. That's when the beggars, the scavengers, and the nightly drunkards all come together around the nearest warm place, whether it be that sickly, smelly fire in the metal garbage can, or scraps and rags in cardboard boxes. I've seen a side of Sainan you and the other people in the daytime never see when you're asleep, and if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be here today.

 _ **A little over a year ago...**_

Stumbling in the shadows of a dimming sunset is a child, barely a teen, whose hazy recollections and throbbing head leave little to envy as the cold chill of the air brushes over his bare skin. Everything had gone from blurry shapes and smells, to sharp clarity and unfamiliar sights, sounds, and colors he had never put thought into before. He knew he was naked because he was so cold, his fur having somehow been mostly lost to the unexpected bodily changes, overall a shock to the senses. Well not all gone, he could feel the mop of hair on his head, the soft down over his forearms and legs, and the strange, rough patch in an area he had never seen before. No matter, the problem was solved quick enough when he heard a loud screaming, followed by the flashing lights and the two men that smelled like oil, gunpowder, and heavy clothe that smelled sterile yet metallic. They covered him with some kind of rough and itchy blanket, it was heavy and not as warm as what he was used too, but they ushered him into the car where warm air soothed his frozen toes and caused the goosebumps on his skin to go away.

It was a rush of smells, colors, and bright lights, as he felt the car speed through the city, lights reflected of the windows and signs until they reached a building and herded him inside. He was given some artificial furs at that point to put on, drab and grey but warmer than the blanket and much more comfortable than nothing at all. Then they led him through a bunch of tricks, like putting the tips of his new appendages onto the black pad that reeked heavily of metal and ink, and then rolling them onto the thick, heavily woody paper. They even gave him a bed all to himself, but he felt like a bad boy when they closed the metal gate, and it reminded him of the kennels he spent his youth around. He wanted to tell them he was a good boy, that he didn't need to be locked in this dusty, acidic smelling place, but he could only whimper and whine with this unfamiliar mouth of his. Feeling his teeth for the first time with these newfound hands, he was surprised to feel flat teeth, besides the four sharp canines he was more familiar with. Resounding to curl up under the covers of this unfamiliar bed, that smelled musty and moldy to boot, he began to think to himself, a slow and laborious product in this new body, but the experience was insightful if he was to understand his new situation.

' _These people don't think in scents or smells, their body language is confusing and contradictory still, and they speak in gibberish that uses too many breathes,_ ' he thinks to himself while in the warmth of his new territory, _'I can see different colors now, but everything is both the same and yet different in that regard, I can't smell as good as I had been able to, and these people don't smile or seem friendly despite being nice to me._ ' He huffs, snuggling deeper into the comforter while trying to curl into himself despite how odd and painful it was to this body of his. ' _Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day,_ ' he thinks to himself, ' _Surely they will see I am really a good boy, and then I can go and try to find..._ ' His head hurt, as he struggled to picture who it was he was looking for. She was a girl, his mistress, but he couldn't remember her smell, or what she looked like now that everything seemed smaller than it once was. Unable to trust his mind or his nose, he was hopelessly confused and lost as to who could help him find his home again. A stray thought crosses his mind as he remembers the girl with white hair, who had helped him by the river when he had almost drown. She had known his master!

The next day, though, had been no better than the previous come morning. Despite being given a good breakfast and another change of clothes, he unfortunately could no longer stay there it seemed. A man in a white coat came and got him, alongside a friendly smelling women who stunk of too much perfume, as if she was trying to drown out the lingering smell of nicotine he caught in the wind. She was friendly, jabbering on as she tried to get him to communicate with him as she and the man in white led him to a room that was a bit away from the other rooms full of people. It smelt of alcohol and the lingering tinge of sickness, despite the harsh lemon scent that also assaulted his senses in an attempt to cover the lingering smell of fear that seemed to permeate the room. If he had a tail, he would be tucking it between his legs right now while in this room, feeling like he was going to crawl out of his skin with the obnoxious mix of smells forcing him to come to a dizzying rest on a crinkling bed that was way to hard to sit on.

It was at this point that his day only got worse, as the woman tried to talk with him, first with those strange, guttural sounds and facial expressions that showed frustration, as she switched to complex movements with her hands. He didn't really understand at that point wither, but then she sighed, and made for him to take off the restricting shirt he had been given. Tilting his head in confusion, then looking down at his shirt, he finally made the connect and began to remove the shirt, at which point the woman smiled, genuinely, and he felt incredibly happy seeing he had been obedient. Then the man who smelt like harsh rubber, putrid smelling soap, and alcohol all rolled into one approached him, bringing up cold, metal instruments to use on him for unknown reasons. Before he could even try and struggle to get away from him and the unknown dangers he presented, the woman slipped her hand into his to give him a reassuring squeeze and a smile, seeing he was beginning to panic. Calming down, he focused on the smile of that woman, wincing despite the cold feeling and intrusive tests, and despite barring his teeth when the man shot a metal tube into his arm to extract that red stuff from his arm, he trudged through the battery of tests like an obedient and good boy, all in hopes of keeping that smile on the kind woman's face.

Finally it was done and the rough garments where forced back over him, the woman ushering him outside and into a chair back near the main front of the building. While he couldn't understand her words, her actions clearly showed she wanted him to stay seated, despite trying to follow her more than once, before she went into another room with a scary looking man that was obviously the alpha of this place, since everyone seemed to avoid it. Eventually she came back out, all excited and cheerful much to his confusion, until she left and returned with a heavier material that the items he was now wearing, and what appeared to be two severed feet. She split open the light grey coat and partially forced it onto him, though he noticed it was much warmer and comfortable than the rest of the thing he had on, before forcing his feet into the hollowed out pair she had brought with her. His feet suddenly felt a lot more warmer than when they were on bare tile, though when he unsteadily tried to walk, he felt uneasy without the soft grass or cold ground under his feet to steady himself on. Then the woman grabbed him roughly by the arm, dragging him to the front of the building they had entered last night, and dragging him down to a car that was filled with various smells, most of them oily and pungent, like worn leather, but also warm and similar to her natural scent.

Driving around town, passing various people and buildings in a blur, eventually they came to a stop outside a large house with a metal gate barring its entrance. Turning to the woman with what he hoped was a look of confusion, he merely saw her smile as she got out of the car. Opening the other door to follow, after fumbling with his new digits, he quickly joined her outside the metal gate where she was making strange utterances into a small, metal box. Suddenly new smells and sounds caught his interest, as he turned to find a woman with brown hair and a white coat coming out of the door and out to the gate. The two women must have exchanged words in their odd language, because the new woman is smiling and looking over at him with a frown and a tilt of her head. She opens the gates and comes closer to him, before brushing a hand over his head, causing him to wince when she glides over his sensitive ears. Peeking open an eye, he notices the woman now has an amused looking smile on her face, before getting down closer to his level and grabbing his hands.

She too says something in her odd language and a relaxed body posture, but he turns to look at the other woman when he realizes that her scent was suddenly retreating, as she suddenly went back to her car. Breaking free of the woman's grasp on his wrists, he goes to follow the woman, until he's stopped by firm,yet gentle hands holding onto his shoulders. Ears and face drooping as he was yet again left behind, he feels the woman give him a firm squeeze in the shoulders, before steering him around and herding him into her domicile.

 _ **3.2 'The Wolf in Human Clothing'**_

 _The Universal Healthcare Clinic_  
 _Ryouko Mikado's House_

When Ryouko was contacted by a Child Therapist she was familiar with stationed at the Sainan Police Department, she was surprised to find that she had a case more suited to her area of expertise than normal human reasoning.

Apparently the night before someone had reported a naked youth running through the neighborhood, cops had picked him up, but it seemed like he was unresponsive to speech, even fearful of them until he was given a shock blanket and a ride to the Police Department where they got him a fresh set of clothes, that looked to be a poor fit, a nice hot meal, and an overnight stay in a comfortable cell before Child Services arranged to have her colleague be there to have the child checked upon by a suitable doctor that regularly came by. The had checked for fingerprints and found no evidence of him in their database, no missing child reports where given that day, and the doctor who had given them a physical examination had been perturbed and confused by some of the child's reactions to sights, sounds, and colors. Apparently he was either deaf or mute, he didn't recognize sign language, and apparently he seemed to struggle to focus on faces and instead seemed to focus on their mouths when someone was talking to him. Adding the fact the physical characteristics were odd as well, as no one had natural black and white hair so young, let alone the rare amber coloring of his eyes, and the topper to the mystery that made her friend contact her: the apparent second set of ears on the top of his head that Ryouko realized where cleverly disguised in his hair.

Obviously the child was alien in nature, which is why she tried to approach him in a friendly manner, seeing as he had suddenly appeared with little-to-no understanding of the Japanese language and the proper social customs of the Earth. "Well, hello there!" she states, trying to get his attention as the social worker leaves him with her to head to another call she had gotten, though she forcibly has to subdue him as he tries to follow, "Sorry kid, Misato-san has to go visit some other kids now, but she entrusted you into my hands so you can get the help you need..." She has to forcibly turn the kid around and push him through the gate and into her house. Thankfully her colleague had explained most of the psychological problems and lack of communication to her ahead of time, though with hi here in front of her, Mikado had begun to build her own hypothesis she would need to check out. While it seemed like he wasn't totally ignorant of certain things, his lack of verbal communication and lack of eye contact could have other causes that were not apparent on the surface by human standards and knowledge.

Unfortunately she was now faced with what was obviously a problem on her hands, as she sits the child onto a chair and goes to find her assistant. While physically resembling a human, it was obvious the child was quite feral, or rather dog-like, when it boiled down to it, and Ryouko realized that might be a problem if Oshizu was to blatantly stumble upon their new patient without warning. "Shizu?" Ryouko calls out, traveling through the hallways, heels clicking on the tile and wood floors, "We have a new patient, but... I have to let you know some things, so you don't freak out." Sighing and putting a hand to her cheek, she tapped her finger as she tried to remember the schedule she had set out for the girl in the tasks she had wanted her to do. Figuring that she was in the filing room, organizing patient files, Ryouko Mikado quickly backtracked to find the girl before her anxious patient grew bold enough to wander and cross paths with her demi-spectral assistant. She didn't want her dying yet again and having to make a new body.

"Ah!" she states out loud, having found the filing room, and upon entering it, the hunched over form of her assistant, "Oshizu, there you are!" The unofficial nurse practitioner stood up from the mess and clutter of paper files she had been pouring over, the meticulous details having to be filed over the years with her non-standard practice on the side not wanting to leave a data trail for some lucky hound to sniff out and expose aliens to the world.

"Yes, Mikado-sensei?" the ghost in a shell stated, brushing back stray black locks behind her ears, "I was just filing Nivean through Marvix, but did you need something?" Mikado stops and smiles, nodding while motioning for her to follow.

"We have a new patient just dropped off to us, some things happened that made a colleague of mine alert me to his special needs," Ryouko states, as she travels back through the twisting hallways, "He's nonverbal, seems to be unwilling to make eye contact, though he reacts to stimuli he just seems to be unable to respond beyond what my colleague described as 'whimpering', oh and one more thing..." She has made it back to the entrance, where she had left the kid, stopping Oshizu before she could move any further inside. "He's likely a Lycanthropic humanoid from either Canis or Sirus, so don't freak out, ok?" she asks, as Shizu gives her a confused look, causing Ryouko to wince as she elaborates further, "...he's basically a human with dog like..." She doesn't even finish before she sees her Pupil's pupils dilate in fear, before an electric shiver arcs up her spine and things around them physically and spontaneously raise in the air at the same time an inhuman shriek escapes Oshizu's delicate lips.

Quickly Ryouko covers her Pupil's mouth, the fear subsiding as she becomes distracted, and the telekinetic grip weakening enough to send everything crashing to the ground in response. "Alright, you didn't react nearly as bad as I imagined, so you got this!" she states confidently, while pushing her unwilling victim through the door, "All you need to do is distract him, talk to him, while I perform some non-invasive physical procedures that I can use to tell exactly what he is!" Shaking in her boots despite her teacher's encouraging words, she finds herself afraid until she locks her gaze with the bright, amber eyes that were slightly obscured with wisps of white and black hair. Shizu sucks in a breath as she realizes that the boy in front of her looked very little like a dog besides the odd hair tufts that looked like dog ears, one of them even half cocked in surprise. This may have been because the kid had found one of her slippers that were left by the front door, and was currently chewing on it. Both Mikado-sensei and Oshizu stare at the kid, as he slowly spits out the shoe from his mouth, trails of drool coming off of it, as he slowly sets it on the floor, like he had just got caught with his hands in the cookie jar. "Well, that's... definitely, not normal," Mikado states, as she pulls out a wooden tongue depressor and quickly takes a moment to peek into the youth's open mouth, pulling his jaw down a little to inspect his incisors.

Oshizu blinked, momentarily taken aback by her teacher's sudden forwardness at the young teen that hadn't been expecting her to do that. Yet the boy didn't seem to mind, rather he looked more nervous, his eyes flicking between Mikado and herself. "H-hello!" she states, hesitantly trying to bridge the gap between them and him, "M-my name is Shizu M-murasame, its nice to meet you, even if you don't s-speak Japanese yet..." She nervously smiles, the edges of her mouth slowly creeping upward, as if forcing her muscles to cooperate. It was crooked, and she felt more like hurling the longer she stood in the presence of this man slash dog, that conflict of recognizing he was human, while her instinctual fears were pressing at her to run because he felt like a dog.

It seemed despite her nervousness, that the smile she had plastered onto her face had caught his attention, as he suddenly ignored sensei as she tested his reflexes. He was obviously an animal, with his lack of personal boundary obviously showing as he invaded her space, leaving a hairsbreadth between her nose and startled face, and his. She realized that his eyes were closed, his nose pointed up at her, as he took in deep breaths with harsh snorting intakes that startled her into taking a half stumble, half step, back. Energized amber eyes open to meet meet calming blue pools, a spark passing between them both as they meet. Shizu feels like the world's colors suddenly invert on her, like some afterimage of a picture overlapped onto reality. Except those ghostly amber eyes that stayed, burned into her retina's like a scar. She hears the howling of wind, as her body suddenly pitches back and drops to the floor, as if she was a marionette whose strings were suddenly cut. The howling of the wind mixes with the sounds of her nightmares, as the present and the past suddenly mix, with the boy's sudden cries sounding wolfish, guttural, raw, and primal sounds coming from a human mouth. And then she was lost in the sea of memories.

 _OoOoOoOoO_

 ** _To Be Continued..._**


	4. A Poem

**I Love-You, Momo**

 **/**

So, you look at him and I see those eyes...

The ones, you know, you cannot disguise.

But he doesn't see you that way-

What can I truly say?

/

He's my man, the one I love.

I see those looks you give us from above.

You think I don't see?

/

I love him very much, it's true

But don't think for half a second, I don't love you...

/

Why are you in such a hurry to grow up?

Is it because you feel you'll get left behind?

Well, I think I know a way to change that, yup!

I'll just have to be the one to show you, to remind...

/

/

I am still your sister, don't you know?

Just because he's mine, don't just feel the need to make him yours...

Can't you see it, can't you see this little show-

What hurts him...hurts me? But if you must see whom he adores-

/

I love you, I won't stop you...

I can't...

But know that I won't give him freely!

/

He love's me, I love him...

We won't...

He won't let go so, easily...

/

/

I once thought, that I could share,

We would be happy, him, her, and me-

But that case is closed, that door's not there.

Now its just him and me, you see.

/

/

Do you truly love him like I do?

Could you really take away those happy days?

If you really could, I know you would...

I would give him up if we both could be happy...

But we can't...

/

I truly love you, Momo, yes I do!

I can't let them slip away, no way!

If you try to listen, I know you could...

You would give him up, both of us happy...

If you won't...

/

I will make you listen to these words I write of our youth:

/

When you were born, we grew up together, sharing everything from toys to teachers...

You would fight with Nana, my things would go haywire, Zastin would scold me...

But you would always help me, you both always had my back, since you shared my features!

Together we grew up, and sadly apart; from the first time you found you liked to cultivate plants, and Nana had her pets to tame,

/

I was alone, scared, growing up, groomed to be a princess... You were both my spares,

But I never let you think that, I let them know that through their stuffy attitudes and glares...

You were my sisters, we shared our titles, we were equals; even if I was older...

/

But when I ran away, found love, did that gap grow?

Did you feel the need to reach my shoulder?

/

But why do you feel the need to grow up so fast?

Can't this bloom of youth last?

/

Don't catch up to me, no, no...

I'll prove to you You weren't left behind...

/

I'll change your mind,

/

 _Ever always,_

 _Your loving, older sister,_

 _Lala Satalin Deviluke._

/

 _ **P.S. Peke, Zastin, please don't go through my diary to read this!**_

 _ **I'll hate you forever, especially you Zastin, if Father or Mother hear about this.**_

 _ **I'm a big girl, I can handle this you know!**_

* * *

 ** _A/N:_ I'm alive! Sorry for all the slashes, but it wouldn't space out my prompt without them...**

 **A poem that Lala wrote, regarding her love, both to Rito and her sisters...**

 **I've been bogged down by real life and writers block (ironically after planning out most of the rest of Fight for Love), and decided to write this up after reading some TLR fan fiction to get my creative juices flowing!**

 **if I'd have to place this anywhere canonly, this was written by Lala after returning from the Bad!Future in This is (Not)A Harem Story. Lala's not as weak willed as people seem to write her (there are some old fics here), nor would I assume she'd just lay over and let Momo have her way making a Harem, even if she wanted Rito to marry both herself and Haruna.**

 ***ahem***

 **Anyway, be on the look out for the second part of the previous story, now that I'm finally inspired, then prepare for the continuation of a Fight for Love at a later date! Ciao, thanks for reading, leave reviews!**


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